Welcome,
open-minded viewers,
to another edition of
Good People, Good Works.
Today we feature the
Young Spirit Foundation,
a nonprofit organization
based in
the Bay Area region of
Northern California, USA.
The Foundation assists
teachers and schools
in the US in creating
“wisdom-based” curricula
that promote furthering
of self-development,
exploring of
spiritual identity,
building of self awareness,
and connecting
with the community.
The Foundation’s president
Theodore Timpson has
a bachelor’s degree from
Harvard University, USA
and a Master of Science
in education from
Bank Street College, USA.
He has worked with
young people for most
of his professional life
and has been
an elementary school
teacher for many years.
Mr. Timpson recently
took time from his busy
schedule to speak
with our Supreme Master
Television correspondent
and now discusses why
he started the Foundation.
Growing up, I always
had a philosophical bent
and I would look around
and ask myself
why people were doing
what they were doing,
what was seemed
to be motivating them
and I often felt
that there was a sense
of underlying confusion
as to what people's
purposes in life were.
What is life?
Why are we here?
Where are we going?
What is our purpose?
How can we
discover these things?
And the schools
didn't really address this.
As part of its mission
to help constructively
transform the current
US education system,
the Foundation sponsors
conferences where
innovative ideas for
facilitating learning are
explored and discussed.
We recently
brought together a panel
of speakers from several
different organizations.
One of them
was representing
a project called
“Project Happiness,”
which is designed to
help high school students
create a curriculum
around happiness and
what that means for them.
And another organization
that's bringing yoga
into juvenile halls.
And another organization
that's doing
mindfulness practice in
public school classrooms
as a way of improving
student’s behavior
and readiness to learn.
And so by organizing
events like this, we feel
that we're shining a light
on some of the deeper
questions about what's
missing in our schools
and we're trying
to bring together
a body of educators
around that idea so that
we can really advocate
for something different.
The Young Spirit
Foundation
also co-sponsors events
that bring together youth
from around the Bay Area
to help them better
understand and appreciate
the diversity of faiths
and spiritual traditions
around the world.
Part of our plan is to
create a youth network.
The main focus of this
so far has been projects
called, “Days of InterFaith
Youth Service,” and
these are opportunities
for young people from
a variety of different faith
backgrounds
and non-religious people
as well to get together
around a service project.
In May 2009,
a Day of Interfaith Youth
Service event took place
at Half Moon Bay
State Beach
in California, USA where
participants worked
together on an eco-project.
Hi, my name is
Marla Kolman Antebi, and
I’m one of the organizers
of “Friends in Faith,”
which is an interfaith
youth program, sponsored
by the Interfaith Center
at the Presidio, and
we’ve collaborated with
other organizers today to
bring together youth from
different faith traditions
to engage in service
together and then
have a dialogue.
So here we are at
beautiful Half Moon Bay
State Beach,
and we’re going to
spend the day doing some
native plant restoration.
And my greatest hope
is that the youth
are inspired by the work
they’re doing together
to find what it is in
their own faith traditions
that motivates them to
get involved in the world
and make a difference…
and find that
other youth from different
faith traditions and
different backgrounds,
share the same values.
So, basically today
we bonded a lot
with other people.
And I’m new to Interfaith,
so it was
a really nice experience
to hear the stories and see
the different backgrounds
that people are from.
Then after we had
a group discussion which
was really inspiring
because everyone talked
about their different faiths
and how their faiths
have affected them,
and I found that
really fun and
interesting and engaging.
It helped me
explain my faith also.
I learned a lot
about different traditions
during our service project
and in the group
discussion afterwards.
I learned more about
the Quaker tradition;
I learned more about
Unitarian Universalists and
how the movement began.
And I think
it was very beautiful
when each faith tradition
or person in our group
talked about the gift that
their faith tradition brings.
So, looking at it from the
Brahma Kumaris tradition,
it was a sense that we’re
all part of the same tree,
even though each
of the branches is unique
in its own way, and
has a unique gift to offer.
There was also a sense
from the Quaker tradition,
the power of the collective,
and the sense of collective
wisdom and power.
And from the Muslim
participant, a sense
of the moral compass
that each religion brings;
so I think those were
great insights to discover
and learn as a result
of the day, so, it was
a wonderful experience.
When we return,
we will find out more
about the mission of the
Young Spirit Foundation.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Hi, my name is
Asad Haider.
This is a great activity,
because there’s a lot
of student involvement;
the kids here represent
a lot of different areas
and religions,
and so, I do hope to meet
new friends and also,
gain experience from
their religions as well.
Welcome back to
Good People, Good Works,
where we are profiling
the Young Spirit
Foundation
which was founded by
Mr. Theodore Timpson.
The group is working to
transform school curricula
in the US so that students
can better develop their
inner spiritual qualities and
explore their self identity.
One of the Foundation’s
pioneering initiatives
is an afterschool program
called
“Math and Mindfulness.”
We’re developing
the Math and Mindfulness
program as a way
to connect curriculum
with identity development.
The idea that we learn
when we feel like
we know who we are.
And really the biggest task
of education is for us
to figure out who we are.
So the Math and
Mindfulness program
is just a beginning
in that effort
to connect curriculum
with self development.
And what we’re trying
to do is help students
in an academic area,
a basic one, math, which
is very important for them.
And to incorporate into
the program, elements
of mindfulness practice,
relaxation, self awareness,
awareness of
one’s physical being
as well as emotional being,
the ability
to calm ourselves
using visualization as
a way to focus the mind.
And for math in particular,
I think visualization
is a key academic tool.
The Foundation
is planning to set up
a model high school
in the Bay Area.
We asked Mr. Timpson
about the new institution’s
guiding philosophy
and what the curriculum
will be like.
The model school is based
on three core principles –
meaning, relationship
and self awareness.
And to develop a sense
of meaning we need more
than just information,
we need to find connections
between different kinds
of information, we need
to see the purpose behind
learning information
and we need to
apply it to a purpose.
In other words
we need to make it
meaningful in our lives.
It’s not enough
to sit in a classroom
and read a book about
something going on
in the world.
We need to ask ourselves,
“In what way
does this impact me?”
and “In what way
can I change it,
if I want to change it
or make it bigger?”
We have a plan in our
curriculum to incorporate
a program called
the “Personal Journey.”
And the Personal Journey
is a very different
approach to curriculum
from the standard
high school affair, which
is divided into segments;
you have your English
class, your science class,
your history class.
The Personal Journey is
a cross disciplinary study
that takes a central
question like “How does
life perpetuate itself?”
and investigates that
in every discipline,
through history,
through literature,
and through science.
And also becomes
a self reflection.
How does my life
perpetuate itself?
How do I want it
to perpetuate itself?
How does my identity
progress from childhood
to adolescence
to adulthood?
And it also then
takes that self reflection
and brings it into some
kind of service activity,
an internship related
to the study at hand.
One might be doing work
in a laboratory,
one might be working
with a social program,
with refugees
or immigrants,
or one might be working
with the homeless.
So the second principle
is relationship.
And that’s the idea that
what’s going on in school
is not just
about the information
that we’re learning
or the subject
that we’re studying.
It’s about
building relationships
with the people
that we’re studying with,
with our peers,
with our teachers,
with the world around us
and talking about
those relationships and
becoming more aware
of those relationships
and how they influence us
and how
they influence each other.
And then
our third principal
is self awareness.
And as I said earlier,
I feel that self awareness
is really the biggest goal
of education.
We’re constantly trying
to figure out who we are,
“What am I trying
to become in my life?
What is
the purpose of my life?
How I am being informed
by my community,
by my culture,
by my family?
And where is
my own sense of personal
wellbeing in all of that?”
Through this development
of self awareness
everything else
becomes possible;
healthy relationships
become possible,
healthy intellectual
growth becomes possible,
healthy service to society
becomes possible.
Mr. Timpson believes
that we all are on
a “wisdom journey” and
that the educational system
should support this
journey with programs
that help students
cultivate the wisdom
within themselves.
The wisdom journey
is the idea
that over the centuries,
over the millennia,
different cultures and
traditions have collected
huge storehouses
of what wisdom is and
how we can develop it.
Philosophical traditions,
religious traditions,
cultural traditions -
these we feel
are very helpful for
bringing students forward
on their wisdom journeys
throughout their lives.
We applaud
Mr. Theodore Timpson
and the Young Spirit
Foundation for
seeking to help students
develop self awareness and
a sense of connectedness
with their communities
and for sponsoring projects
that promote interactions
between young people
of different faiths.
We wish the Young Spirit
Foundation the very best
in its future endeavors.
For more details on the
Young Spirit Foundation,
please visit
YoungSpirit.org
Cherished viewers,
we have enjoyed
your company
on today’s edition of
Good People, Good Works.
Next is
The World Around Us,
after Noteworthy News.
May the light of Heaven
always shine brightly
upon you.
The Mekong Basin is
a very environmentally
sensitive region
in Southeast Asia
centered on the
mighty Mekong River.
However its rich
biodiversity is currently
being severely threatened
by climate change.
We have been doing some
reforestation projects,
but I would say what
has been particularly
important is our trying to
protect and appropriately
manage the forests
that remain there.
We have something called
the “Biodiversity Corridors”
initiative which is
a forest conservation and
land management program
for the hilly areas of
the Mekong Basin.
Be sure to watch
“Climate Change and
the Fragile Mekong Basin”
this Wednesday, March 3
on Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.